Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) – The central bank of Bangladesh has accelerated its purchase of the US dollar from the commercial banks directly aiming to keep the inter-bank foreign exchange market stable, officials said.
“We’ve expedited our intervention in the market this week to protect the interest of exporters and migrant workers through keeping the exchange rate of Bangladesh Taka (BDT) against the US dollar stable,” a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told BBN in Dhaka.
The central banker also said a constant local currency exchange rate is essential for keeping the inflow of remittances and export earnings stable.
“We may continue such intervention until the upcoming Eid-ul-Azha festival aiming to keep the market stable through offsetting the rising trend of foreign currency supply,” he noted.
The BB official also said the lower import payment pressure, the higher growth of inward remittance and the rising trend of export proceeds realization are contributing to improve the supply of foreign exchange in the market gradually.
As part of the move, the central bank bought $ 66 million in the last week from different commercial banks at the market rate to keep the exchange rate of local currency stable against the greenback.
A total of $ 1.045 billion was bought from the commercial banks, so far, in the current fiscal year (FY 2012-13) as part of the BB’s intervention in the market, according to the central bank statistics.
BBN/SSR/AD-06Oct12-1:10 pm (BST)
